N.K. makes proposal for peace talks to U.S. before 4th nuclear test

It has turned out that there was an unofficial discussion between the U.S. and North Korea on the conclusion of a peace treaty in late December last year, shortly before the North conducted the fourth nuclear test on January 6, failing to iron out the difference between the two parties. Having given up on mending the fence with China after the withdrawal of Moranbong Band, North Korea came up with the drastic measures to conduct a nuclear test and fire long-range missiles as its proposal for a peace treaty discussion was rebuffed by the U.S.

According to multiple sources in Washington, North Korea’s Mission to the United Nations in Manhattan, New York, proposed to discuss a peace treaty to the State Department of the U.S. through the New York Channel. The New York Channel is an unofficial channel for dialogues where the North and the U.S. exchanged working-level talks. Typically, the North sends the deputy ambassador, and the U.S. sends the special envoy to the six party talks. Currently, Deputy Ambassador of North Korea Jang Il Hoon and Director of the Office of Korean Affairs Mark Lambert at the U.S. State Department are in charge.

At first, the State Department decided to respond to the proposal. In fact, the U.S. needed to gather further intelligence as there was a sign of an imminent nuclear test by the North late last year. However, the post of the special envoy was practically vacant after U.S. Special Envoy for Six-Party Talks Sydney Seiler returned to the post of senior advisor to the Office of the Director of National Intelligence in September 2015. While Mr. Lambert was holding a concurrent position as special envoy after taking office in August, it was reported that the circumstances did not allow it at that time.

Afterwards, the U.S. contacted North Korea via the UN mission. The U.S. reaffirmed the existing policy that denuclearization negotiations must come first before discussing a peace treaty. The North objected to it, and its proposal fell through. An official suspected that North Korea was trying to have a negotiation on nuclear disarmament with the U.S. after replacing the armistice with a peace treaty.

“North Korea and the U.S. agreed to have a discussion on the conclusion of a peace treaty, and the U.S. gave up the precondition of denuclearization and began the discussion,” the Wall Street Journal reported on Sunday. In response, U.S. State Department spokesman John Kirby said, “After reviewing the North’s proposal, the U.S. made it clear that denuclearization must be included in the discussion, but the North refused.”

Some observers voice concern that the WSJ report indicates the possibility that the U.S. may pursue both denuclearization negotiations and peace treaty discussion with North Korea in spite of South Korea’s opposition. However, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of South Korea announced on Monday that the stance of the U.S. on the peace treaty remains the same and that the U.S. and South Korea are closely cooperating on a set of issues including the North's demand to conclude a peace treaty.

워싱턴=이승헌 특파원ddr@donga.com · 도쿄=서영아특파원 sya@donga.com